The day after the competition was definitely awkward. Zane and Kawaii Chan actually kissed. Kawaii Chan has been aware of her feelings for Zane, but the feelings came out of nowhere on Zane's part. He doesn't know why they kissed. Where did the sudden mood come from? He doesn't know if he's always felt that way for Kawaii Chan or what.

"You and Kawaii Chan- Wait, sorry, I'm lost...," Aphmau says running her hands down her face and putting them on her hips.

"Well.. after our performance.. we.. we kissed.. I don't know," Zane rambles, picking his nails.

     Aphmau's nose scrunches up slightly and her lips curve in an almost animated way before she bursts out in giggles. Her face turns bright red and she wipes a fake tear from her eye. Zane watches, unamused, glaring at his friend.

     "I..I'm sorry! It's just, you and Kawaii Chan? Really?" Aphmau says, letting her laughter die down.

     "Yes!"

     Aphmau sighs and crosses her arms, trying to be serious.

     "I really don't know how to respond, maybe it was the heat of the moment? You guys had a connection during the song and well.. you guys just clicked," Aphmau suggests, shrugging.

     "Hey.. that actually kind of makes sense.." Zane replies, rubbing his arms.

     "Of course it does!"

     "T..Thanks.."

     "No problem," Aphmau turns on her heel and walks away.

     Kawaii Chan walks into the practice room as Aphmau leaves and waves kindly to Zane. Zane awkwardly waves back and Kawaii Chan walks towards him.

     "Z..Zane I just uh.. wanted to apologize about the uh.. kiss.." Kawaii Chan says, dropping the third person way of speaking.

     "Oh um yeah. It's alright.. I think we just got erm.. lost in the moment," Zane responds, rubbing his arms and staring down at the floor.

     "Yeah... I... I did mean it when I said I liked you.. just wanted to let you know...," Kawaii Chan replies, nervously biting her lip and also looking down at the floor.

     "Oh.. okay..."

     "It was nice dancing with you..," Zane puts his hand up for Kawaii Chan to shake, but Kawaii Chan decides to hug him instead. He freezes for a second before returning the hug.

     "I had fun," Kawaii Chan replies, a blush growing across her cheeks.

     "Yeah.. me too.."

     Kawaii Chan nods and turns to walk away, but suddenly stops to takes a deep breath and,

     "Zane,"

     Zane looks up and catches her golden eyes.

     "Would you like to.. go on a date? Maybe?"

     Zane feels his chest rise and his cheeks turn a cherry color. He swallows before nodding and  earning a smile from Kawaii Chan.

———

The next day, Aphmau invites everyone to her house party. She sets the island counter with snacks and sweets, picks out a bunch of movies and puts them in a stack in the living room, and she dresses in a short purple dress.

Once everyone makes it to her party, they all sit down in the living room. The room is filled with jokes and laughter, embarrassing stories, and craziness.

      "So, you and Travis?" Dante says, taking a sip of his soda.

     Katelyn furrows her eyebrows, a blush growing across her cheeks, "What about us?"

     "Oh, so you're an 'us' now?" Aphmau adds, giggling and raising an eyebrow.

     "Only if she wants to be," Travis replies, scooting closer to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

      Katelyn laughs and snuggles into is arm slightly.

     "I'll think about it," Katelyn says, kissing his cheek.

      "My ship!" Kawaii Chan squeals.

      "Oh! KC and Zane over here kissed after their performance!" Aphmau spits out.

      The whole room grows silent, eyes widen, some smirks appear. Kawaii Chan holds her breath, her face turning magenta. Zane's face seems to be a reflection of hers.

      "There's no fucking way.. Sorry for the language.. just, how?" Katelyn exclaims, a laugh bubbling in her voice.

     "Heat of the moment," Zane says, crossing his arms and turning away.

     "Wow, smooth...," Laurance comments, nodding and chuckling.

     Suddenly the whole rooms bursts into laughter again and Garroth gains a sense of confidence as he takes a stand and speaks through the laughter.

     "I didn't tell anyone, but.. I'm gay!" Garroth announces.

      Aphmau grins at her friend and applauds him for coming out and the applause grows as the others join in.

     "Thanks for telling us," Travis says, smiling.

     Zane smiles at his brother and Garroth notices. He feels safe now that the truth is out and decides to take a seat.

     "Well now we have a lot of information to process," Dante says.

      "Yeah we do," Kawaii Chan replies, giggling.

     The night goes on and the group puts on a movie and plays monopoly. Some friendships were destroyed, but were quickly repaired by sharing snacks and sweets. The night finished with everyone heading to their houses and the party was over.

———

     Zane walks home through the darkness, Kawaii Chan by his side. It's quiet, but it's okay for them. Their footsteps mimic each other and Kawaii Chan holds his arm, sighing and yawning. Zane's eyes widen slightly, but he keeps going.

     "Hey, Ro'Meave!" A familiar voice shouts from behind.

     Kawaii Chan releases her grip and Zane turns around. He recognizes black hair and edgy clothes; the look on his face that's imprinted in his memory.

     "Gene..," Zane replies.

      Gene stops and puts his hands in his pockets. He smiles slightly and shrugs.

     "I'm not here for trouble. Just wanted to say that.. you guys did well.. for the competition. Better than I could have done it," Gene compliments.

     "Thanks...," Zane says, shocked.

     "Thank you!" Kawaii Chan replies, a toothy smile on her face.

     "You two are a good pair, but watch out for us during next week's dance off," Gene warns, smirking and walking away.

     "Weird..," Zane comments.

      "Very," Kawaii Chan adds.

     "There's no way he'd beat us though."

     "Why do you say that?"

     "I don't know Nana... I just have a feeling about it."

     "Hashtag Zana is unstoppable!" Kawaii Chan squeals.

      "Hashtag what?" Zane asks, his eyebrows lowering.

     "Zana! It's our team hashtag! I wanted to shake things up for our team name.. It's our names put together! It could be Zane-Chan too if you don't like Zana..."

      Zane rolls his eyes, and continues walking, Kawaii Chan by his side. He side eyes her and she smiles at him.

     "Zane-Chan has a better ring to it.." Zane mumbles, pulling his mask down slightly to show a smirk.

———

Yes.. you've reached the end of the book! I hope you've enjoyed it! I think this was a decent way of ending the story.

I've come to a realization that I find it much easier to write original stories than fanfiction. I like to change characters up a lot and I can't really do that with fanfiction. Either way, I hope you liked this story.

There may be other chapters to see what happened with everyone else, but I've kind of lost interesting in writing this.

Thank you for those who read! ❤️